Day 3

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Lesson 3

It’s time to learn how to play nice. Every community has to have rules in order to function. While there can be a variety of rules depending on who you talk to, the basic rules of internet etiquette or netiquette are simple.

WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, IT IS CONSIDERED TO BE YELLING! Remember that you are communicating with people, and that those people have feelings just like you do.

Have enough pride in yourself and enough respect for others to submit quality. In other words, proofread what you write. Use spell check where possible and pay attention to punctuation. On the other hand, be willing to forgive the occasional typo.

Keep in mind that in most cases, what you do online is on public record. Don’t type anything you would be ashamed of. Also, don’t submit your private information or the private information of other people where that information is not secure. That could be anything from a phone number to a social security number. We will discuss more about security in an upcoming lesson.

Be accountable. When you’re communicating with people, always be willing to stand behind what you say. If it is not something you would say to someone’s face, don’t say it at all. This reminds me of Bambi’s little friend Thumper.

Be respectful of others. There is a practice known as flaming that is generally viewed as unacceptable. Writing something online that is full of negative emotion directed at an individual or sometimes a group of people would be an example of flaming. This generally leads to a flaming response. After this goes back and forth a few times, in what is referred to as a flame war, the rest of the world gets tired of it and leaves the conversation.

Just remember to be nice. Take a cue from Thumper’s mom, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Note 2.0
Today’s Note 2.0 is a link to another website with more information on netiquette. Don’t forget to come back. There’s more to today’s lesson.
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

The second part of today’s lesson is about newsletters. You will find them all over the internet and most of them are free. Newsletters are distributed by websites to keep the readers informed of updates and to provide them with more information than a casual visitor of the website. It is a method of connecting with the people who visit a website regularly.

One of the reasons most newsletters are free is that along with their content, they advertise products or services to the readers kind of like a newspaper does. The great thing about the internet community is that they can target the advertising to focus on the topic that is being discussed, unlike the newspaper which is read by people with different interests.

E-mail subscriptions like newsletters require you to Opt-In. In other words, you have to give your e-mail address to the subscription provider in order to receive their content. Most reputable subscriptions use a Double Opt-In method.This means that you have to submit your e-mail address, and then confirm that you received the e-mail and want their subscription. This prevents other people from signing you up for subscriptions you don’t want to receive.

All types of e-mail subscriptions should have an option to Opt-Out if you later choose that you no longer wish to receive the information.
The newsletter from this website contains helpful tips about getting around on the internet. Our newsletter requires a double Opt-In subscription and is easy to Opt-Out of.

Homework

Today’s homework is easy. Sign up for the newsletter here at The First Place To Go. If you look on the right side of any www.TheFirstPlaceToGo.com page, there is a box for subscribing to the newsletter. Enter your e-mail address and press the Subscribe button. Once this is completed, check your e-mail account and follow the instructions in the e-mail you receive. Leave a comment below about what instructions were in the e-mail.

Wrap Up

I hope you are getting more comfortable getting around online. In the coming days, we will be looking at other ways to connect with friends and family, as well as online games and shopping. Stay tuned!